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Healthy Body. Healthy Mind.

Are you working as a freelancer and interested in how to tame the ugly beast of stress?

Read on! There is help at hand my friend!

One of the major challenges any freelancer has to face on almost a daily basis is stress. Especially when starting out.

You are never sure if you are going to make ends meet. Work is coming in but only sporadically. So you stress and worry about money.

Then your world is turned on its head and you get jobs coming in left right and centre. Now you are worrying and stressing about not having enough time to complete sooo much work!! And you dare not turn the work down, because you might hit a slump again.

This can be a juggling act for sure. Over the years it will settle down though. Bu tin the meantime, until things settle, try to keep your stress levels down and manageable.

Here are a 5 simple tips for you to think about to help beat stress as a freelancer:

1. Stay hydrated

The importance of staying hydrated to beat stress is overlooked. “Drink plenty of water”. Yeah I know, you’ve heard this before. But perhaps not in relation to stress. If you are dehydrated your body thinks it is under stress. If it’s hydrated you can feel and work with a healthy mind and body! By using the formula above (your weight in kg x 0.0333 ), you will know how much water you need to consume per day.

2. Chakra Exercises

These are exercises that open up your chakras and let your energy flow. Chakras are energy centres in your body. Through yoga, tai chi and crystals you can stimulate your chakras (specifically one by one or all of them) and remove blockages that are slowing you down. Blockages in the body all start in the psyche. That is why a stressed mind leads to a stressed body. Try some simply poses and/or routines. Join a local tai chi or qi gong club. Or try out one of my crystal grids if you are not the exercising type!

3. Make sure you are getting the right vitamins and minerals

I seriously recommend that you go to your GP and ask to have your blood tested. Many of us are low on Vitamin D because we are indoors all the time. Or you may be low on iron or vitamin B if your energy levels are sluggish. What you eat and the quality of your food intake relates to your mood, thoughts, energy, and health. I highly recommend ensuring you are eating the right sort of balanced diet and cut out processed foods

4. Get enough sleep

Why do you force yourself to get up early if your body is saying not to? We can’t all fit into that ideal regime of get up and go to the gym or go for a jog. Treat yourself to a lie in every so often. Likewise, why are you staying awake so late just to watch a movie or series? Doing this is stressful and depletes your energy supply, mental,and physical performance. Aim to be asleep by 10:30pm. This will help regulate your sleep rhythms. If you are struggling to sleep make sure you

it also helps if you have had some fresh air and done some exercise during the day.

naturally you should avoid caffeine in the evening as well.

5. Chill out, listen to music or meditate

Try some meditation from the free app Insight Timer– Just take 10-15 minutes out of your day. Lie down on your bed, close your eyes, and breathe whilst listening to some relaxing music or meditative narrative. There are plenty of different types of meditation or just relaxing music to listen to, from affirmations to motivational and relaxing sessions. You decide how much time you have and then lie back and be guided to a stress-free state of escapism.

Final thoughts:

Medication and chemicals – I am not here to tell you to stop taking your medication, but please be aware that chemicals in the form of drugs, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and certain fertilisers are all stressful to the body.

The points mentioned above are certainly a good place to start. If you can take steps to address sleep, diet, exercise, breathing, and hydration you will find yourself heading in the right direction.

My final word of advice and comfort would also be to remember how much more stressed you’d be in a 9 to 5 job, commuting every day, sitting in a drab cubicle or a loud, energy-sapping open plan office…Enjoy the freedom your freelance work gives you. it is one of the best perks of the job!

The peaks and lows of your workload are a small price to pay for this freedom. Cherish it. You deserve it.

Thanks to Graham Whitehead – Personal Trainer for sharing his knowledge and helping to research this article.